A Trumbull County biotechnology firm is looking to expand and hire additional workers.
Bret Barnhizer, CEO of NanoLogix, said he is moving the company's research and development operations from Cincinnati to Hubbard and could be hiring up to five additional employees.
"We looked around in Cincinnatti initially to see if there was anything that was suitable there, but the cost was just prohibitive and we had a building here we already were paying for, so it was easy enough to convert this space into a fairly good size lab for what we need to do," Barnhizer said.
The company converted a portion of it headquarters in Hubbard to a laboratory.
"Just based on economics, cost for both workforce and lab space, we made the decision to move here, and what is nice is all activities are consolidated under one roof," Barnhizer said.
NanoLogix makes diagnostic testing equipment that dramatically speeds up the process of detecting all types of bacteria such as tuberculosis, strep and salmonella, which means patients can ultimately be diagnosed that much faster.
"The membrane is the platform where you can transform a sample from the nutrient plate to the staining plate and then within 5 to 15 minutes, sometimes instanly, the bacteria colonies will show up," Barnhizer said.
Barnhizer said his company's rapid detection kits are four to 12 times faster than conventional methods.
